The present invention relates to bicycle accessories and more particularly to a portable, collapsable apparatus for mounting and carrying a bicycle on the rear of an automobile or other similiar vehicle.
Automobile bicycle carriers that can carry bicycles on the rear of a vehicle and can be easily removed are known. Many of the carriers that are known consist typically of a lightweight metal frame which is removably attached to a vehicle. With these types of carriers it is somewhat difficult to remove the carrier and the bulky nature of the carrier limits the ease of storing and transporting the carrier.
Carriers as described above are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,518,108, 4,085,874, 4,394,948, 4,386,709 and 4,039,106. All of these type carriers consist of a multitude of parts and require tools and various fastening devices to attach them to the vehicle. Additionally, the metal components are a potential source of scratching the vehicle or the bicycle to which they are attached and are also susceptable to corrosive damage.
A foldable, more portable carrier is described in Ballinger U.S. Pat. No. 3,923,221. The Ballinger patent however still uses metal components to attach to a vehicle and further is difficult to use and lacks stability in securing the bicycle to the vehicle. Further, the Ballinger configuation is not easily adapted to various sized and shaped vehicles. A prior abandoned application by one of the inventors herein attempted to address the problems described but was unsuccessful.
It is these various shortcomings of the currently available carriers to which the present invention is addressed.